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How do you do this without appearing interrogative? I mean, they’re probably itching to have you click the Accept button so they can go ahead with the rest of the plans. And then, if they have to go through a bit of to-and-fro with the host which can sometimes take a while, do you see them getting frustrated? And what if they go ahead and book the other one they were also eyeing?
I ask this constructively, not to oppose your choice. I myself do that type of asking for details, but maybe much less than it appears you do.
In big cities, Airbnb turn on the instant book filter by default. If you are not enrolled to Instant Book, they do not even see your listing in search results.
Possible reasons behind that have been already covered earlier in this thread.
I hope you don’t mind - if I turn on IB (I’m not inclined to but it may be necessary in my city, haven’t had as many bites as I was hoping) I just may steal that…
I have a standard blurb I ask guests that I send back to them if they don’t provide the information that I ask for as part of my house rules (vast majority).
In my short time doing this with instant book I can’t think what questions would elicit information that would predict behaviour of guests. As I live on the property, but it’s a whole house booking, it’s not as much as an issue as someone renting my spare bedroom.
That’s an easy answer: My wife has the dialogue with them, not me. If I did it, it would definitely be interrogative. But she has the ability to simply ask like she there best friend. My wife also knows the main reasons why most come to the city; so she throws those out first. The person generally replays with an agreement or other reason. With that usually comes several more sentences describing a bit more about their trip. That starts the conversation; and then we decide.
